So having not finished my 2003 ET2 Rat Scooter project I came across a 2018 Vespa Sprint 50 100 miles away with an asking price of $350. The pictures showed a true basket case and the current owner being a shade tree mechanic swore it would only take $100 and a few hours to get it back on the road. He was probably correct if he hadn't tried to get it running. The body was in pretty good shape compared to the rest of the Vespas I have though the color is growing on me. What I liked about it was it has the 4 valve 4 stroke like the S50 that I had built up a few years ago so I knew it would go fast. Even better it had 12"wheels so it would handle better on top of everything else. So I took a trip, the farthest I've ventured from home in a year so it was nice just getting out.
His directions and GPS got me right there. The scooter was buried behind some other discarded projects and we dug it out. The engine was out of the scoot and most of the plastics were pulled off. He started to tell me how it wouldn't start so he started to work on it. He had 2 carbs, a Keihin and a Chinese unknown as well as 2 intakes. O took the Keihin and left the other. I would ask where parts were and he would dig around and find them. Finally we got to the motor The cylinder and head were off and the valves were out. He started to tell me that the intake valves were damaged from a bad valve adjustment. I re installed them and they all fit well and the valve seats looked fine. He was missing 3 of the springs and all of the cups. He just had a big pile of nuts and bolts and engine parts on the work bench so I just took it all to sort through later. The seat looked good and the only broken plastic was the glove box hinges. He didn't have a key but that was fine I would rekey it anyway.
I got him down to $300 and he got his paperwork. The scoot was bought new in May of 2018 and he had a bill of sale for $600 from December of 2018. The signatures on the dealers bill of sale matched his Bill of Sale so I could see it was legit. Though on the phone he said he had just picked it up. When I got there he had owned it for 6 months. But judging by all of his projects I can see how he forgot. Judging by the dust on everything 2 years sounded right.
With no back wheel we laid it in the back of the truck on a sleeping bag and I strapped it so it wouldn't move. The engine and other parts went in the back seat and home I went $300 poorer. On the way home I did the math and I had to have at least $700 in easy parts already removed that just needed a bath. So it wasn't a loss.
Here are the pictures from Craigslist and when I got it home: